Dublin report: After a very positive start to the day prompted by a better-than-expected trading update from Bank of Ireland, the Iseq took a turn for the worse after lunch and followed its European peers in a downward direction.
Having hit 8,173 earlier in the day, the Irish market closed at 8,081.81, dragged down by negative economic data on both sides of the Atlantic and news of what is believed to be an attempted coup in Thailand. US stocks were down at the end of the European trading day and dealers said they expect their European counterparts to be hit today.
Despite losing some momentum, Bank of Ireland remained one of the highlights after raising its full-year earnings forecast for the current financial year following a strong first-half performance. Davy upgraded its earnings forecasts by 5 per cent. The stock added 20 cent, or 1.3 per cent, to €15.20, as more than 2.5 million units changed hands.
AIB rallied on the back of its rival's results, ending up 23 cent, or 1.1 per cent, at €20.30.
Tullow also started out in a positive mood after reporting good results from one its wells in the North Sea. However, it failed to hold onto those gains and ended unchanged at €5.46.
Despite revealing a first-half profit in line with expectations, Independent News & Media failed to excite investors and dealers reported some concern over a slowdown in government advertising in Northern Ireland. The stock slipped three cent, or 1.3 per cent, to close at €2.30.
CRH was hit by the negative housing data in the US, leaving the stock down 55 cent, or 2 per cent, at €26.90, while C&C was also out of favour, losing 21 cent, or 2 per cent, to close at €10.21.
Grafton fared better, going against the negative trend to gain 22 cent, or 2.1 per cent, and close at €10.52.
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